Biography

Senior Lecturer in Japanese

Research | Current

Phonology

Morphology

Dialect accent

Ryukyuan linguistics

The historical development of the Nakijin accentual systemNakijin dialect (Northern Okinawan) nouns show regular accentual correspondences with other Ryukyuan dialects, but the correspondences differ according to the length of the noun. Also, Nakijin shows evidence of an accent, whereas most, if not all, other Ryukyuan dialects can be analysed in terms of (word-)tones. I have reconstructed the tonal system and vowel quantity of Proto-Northern Ryukyuan as very close to the system found in the modern dialect of Asama (Tokunoshima) in order to explain the Nakijin noun situation. I am now working on the tonal system of the verb conjugation, where in Nakijin the accentuation is predictable from the shape (length and vowel features) of the endings but where this does not appear to be the case in other dialects.

Singular and plural numberLawrence (2003) notes that in English and a range of other Germanic and Romance languages, the singular represents one, and the plural represents 'other than one', not 'more than one'. In contrast, Standard French singular represents 'less than two'. Current research expands both the range of languages to other Indo-European language groups, and also the range of Germanic and Romance languages/dialects. A core question being looked at is whether there are any languages where the singular represents 'one or less' (ie, 0 would be singular, but 1.5 plural) – and if not, why not?

The to yuu-na N constructionThere is a commonly used construction in colloquial Japanese which takes the structure ...yuu-na NOUN. As far as I am aware, this structure is not introduced in any textbook or reference grammar. It is, on the surface, ungrammatical, but in Lawrence (1998) I present an analysis which allows it to be interpreted as conforming to the generally accepted rules of Japanese grammar. The analysis crucially depends on haplology and radical underspecification of vowel features. I am currently investigating further evidence which supports this analysis in terms of haplology.

The genetic interrelationships of the Ryukyuan dialectsLawrence 2000 looked at the interrelationships of most of the Yaeyama dialects, and came to this family tree as its conclusion. I am now working on the other Ryukyuan dialects, especially the position of the Tarama dialect (a Miyako dialect as traditionally assumed? Or a Yaeyama dialect as recently argued by Karimata Shigehisa of the University of the Ryukyus?). I am also doing preliminary work on the Northern Ryukyuan dialects (Okinawan and Amami groups).